Reactions
by cutiesonthehorizon
Summary: Post-ep to 2x08. Sylvester can't just stand around, doing nothing. He has to talk to Walter. It doesn't go very well.


A **/N** : My first foray into this fandom, and my first fic after almost a two year writing hiatus, so please bear with me. This is a post-ep fic to 2x08 with possible spoilers for 2x09. Just kind of wanted to let it out, before the new episode makes this an AU. Enjoy.

 **Reactions**

From all the people in the Scorpion, in the end it was Sylvester that called Walter out on his insane plan to save Megan. It was another hard day, for some of them harder than the rest. Walter had just forced the doctors to intubate Megan, against her own wish and Sylvester couldn't do a thing about it. He loved Megan, but he had no legal power, and somewhere deep inside he was still hoping that Walter's plan could work, that Walter can save her. The alternative was losing her forever, and Sylvester wasn't ready to face that. But seeing Megan's pained and pleading look this morning, Sylvester knew this wasn't about him or Walter anymore. On the way from the hospital, his head was filled with Walter's words along with that one look Megan gave him, before she fell back under the pull of the drugs and suddenly, Sylvester was livid.

He ignored Toby's hello, passed right by Happy tinkering with her bike and didn't even spare a wave to Paige. He was on a warpath and no one could stop him.

As he thought, Walter was working on the rocket, while at the same time he had the storage device from the plane on the desk, in pieces.

"Walter, I need to talk to you," Sylvester said, his tone breaking no argument and Walter looked up from his work.

"I don't have time, need to finish the rocket." Walter answered curtly, still angry with Sylvester about not getting Megan intubated sooner.

"It's about Megan."

"The rocket is too," Walter answered and continued working, until a hand landed on his shoulder.

"We need to talk," Sylvester said and Walter blinked. He only scarcely saw Sylvester this angry, and it was never directed at him. The kid was visibly shaking.

"Is Megan okay?" he asked, even as he knew that if Megan's condition worsened… the doctors would call him first. He made sure about that the day before.

"No, she is not. And she won't ever be." Sylvester snapped and Walter jerked, at the words as well as for the tone.

"Don't," he said and turned away, back to the rocket, back to his sister's only chance. He wanted to get lost in the work, but once again, Sylvester grabbed his shoulder, and this time there was anger behind it. Walter turned.

"No, you don't get to tune out on this one, Walt. You don't even get to choose, because this isn't about you. It's about her!"

"And I am trying to save her life!" Walter shouted, feeling the anger and desperation tear through his chest.

"How?" Sylvester asked in a defeated tone, but didn't give him a chance to answer. "You want to "download" her brain, her every thought into some storage box, you want to freeze her body right after she dies, so you can maybe figure out a cure to her illness and bring her back to life one day? Do you even realize how crazy that is?!" Sylvester's voice rose by each sentence, driving it further in and Walter pulled away from his grasp, furious.

"Don't you dare tell me I can't save her! She's my sister; she's the only one that stood by me this whole time. I won't let her die!"

"It's not your choice, Walter," Sylvester shook his head, the anger leaving him with only the sour taste of pain. "Even if you, by some miracle manage to do everything I just said all it would accomplish would be making a copy of your sister. Sure, it might help _you_ to feel better, to feel as if she's still there with us, but it won't be Megan, it would be just a copy. Because you can't transfer her _soul_ into a computer. You are no god, Walter."

Maybe that was where Sylvester should just have stopped talking, where he should've seen Walter's closed fists, his clenched teeth and the rage and pure, animal fear inside his eyes. But Sylvester couldn't stop, not now. He still had something to say, still had a purpose. So he ignored all the warning signals and pushed on, letting out what really bothered him.

"You are trying so hard to save her, Walter, that you don't see how you are hurting her. You spend your time here, instead of being by her side when she needs you the most. She's scared, she's hurting and she knows there's nothing to make her better."

"Stop," Walter growled and took a step towards Sylvester, but he didn't listen. "Stop it."

"No, Walt. You need to realize, that she is going to-"Sylvester's own voice caught on the word, and for a second he closed his eyes, willing away the tears. "She's going to die, and you won't be there for her, Walt. You might find the cure, but you won't save her."

Walter snapped. If Cabe was there, he would've stepped in several minutes earlier, because he would've known what was coming, but Cabe was handling some bureaucracy at the office and the others, even Toby, could only just watch and listen in stupor, waiting for the fallout. Which came swift, and hard. One second Sylvester was talking, the next he was laying on the ground, Walter on top of him with a fist ready to deliver a second punch.

"No, stop it!" Paige shouted, even as Toby rushed over and grabbed the arm that was mid swing.

"Walter!" he shouted and pulled the struggling genius off of Sylvester, who was lying still, unmoving.

"I won't let her die, do you understand? I won't let her die!" Walter shouted at Sylvester, even as Happy and Paige were helping him up. Sylvester shook his head dazedly, spitting out some blood from a broken lip.

"That's just it, Walter. You don't have a choice." Sylvester said, looking straight into Walter's angry eyes, and saw the moment when it all clicked into place, when Walter went lax in Toby's arms.

"No," he whispered. "I can stop it," he said, but Sylvester slowly shook his head.

"She is scared, and she is in pain. She needs you; she needs to know that when she's gone you will be okay. That we will be okay."

Walter opened his mouth to argue, but he had no more energy left.

"I don't want to lose her. I don't want to stay alone." Walter said and his voice cracked on the last word.

"You won't be alone," Toby spoke suddenly into the silence. "We are all with you. But right now, Megan needs her brother by her side, not hiding away."

"We won't leave you, Walter," Paige promised, with tears in her eyes. Walter blinked and leaning against the wall, slowly slid to the floor.

"I can't just give up."

"No one asks you to give up. Just don't shut us out, don't shut Megan out. Right now, it's about her," Paige said as she knelt down next to Walter and squeezed his arm in a sign of support.

Walter looked up at her, and slowly shook his head.

"I can't stop it. I just can't," he whispered and leaned his head back against the wall, closing his eyes, shutting them out. He didn't see Sylvester brushing off Toby help, didn't see the sudden determination in his eyes as he walked out of the door. While the others might have wondered what exactly Walter meant, Sylvester didn't have to. He knew Walter wasn't capable of giving up, not at this point of time. He saw that in his eyes, just before the punch came. He didn't even feel angry about it anymore. All he wanted was to help Megan, to be there for her. If it meant doing something Walter wasn't going to agree with…

"Well, if you can't, I will have to," Sylvester muttered through bloody lips and headed back towards the hospital. There was a question he needed to ask Megan, and it couldn't wait.


End file.
